Posted By RVBusiness On May 14, 2012 @ 2:06 pm In Breaking News | No Comments

The government is hoping that Monday’s (May 14) bankruptcy filing by Ally Financial’s troubled mortgage business will help the company repay its government bailout faster.

The Associated Press reported that Residential Capital, or ResCap, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York, unable to make payments on debt taken out to finance soured home mortgages.

The filing will separate the money-losing ResCap subsidiary from Ally’s auto loan and banking businesses – which includes its RV interests (see previous RVBUSINESS.com posting) – allowing those other businesses to grow and speed repayment of Ally’s bailout loans from 2008 and 2009, Ally said.

Ally also said Monday that it is exploring the possible sale of its international operations, a move that also should help strengthen its finances and make payments to the government. International businesses include auto loan, insurance and banking operations in Canada, Mexico, Europe, England and South America.

Ally, which is 74% owned by the U.S. government, was the financial arm of General Motors until the banking industry meltdown in 2008. It needed a $17.2 billion bailout to survive the downturn.

Ally has repaid about $5.5 billion, and it still owes the government just under $12 billion. The government is hoping to get the rest of the money back through a public stock offering by Ally, or perhaps sale of its remaining businesses.

When the bankruptcy and potential sale of international operations are finished, Ally expects to repay two-thirds of its bailout, or about $11 billion. The additional payments could come by year’s end, the company said.

“We believe that this action puts taxpayers in a stronger position to continue recovering their investment in Ally Financial,” Assistant Treasury Secretary Timothy Massad said.

ResCap is a separate company, and the government does not hold any debt or equity in it, the government said. The ResCap board decided to seek bankruptcy protection on Sunday.

Ally’s statement said ResCap has reached agreements with key creditors for a speedy bankruptcy. But Ally has to put up $150 million for bankruptcy financing and pay $750 million to ResCap to make the deal work.

Ally also will make the first bid on up to $1.6 billion worth of troubled mortgages that will be auctioned. The agreements made before the filing have milestones for ResCap to come out of bankruptcy protection by the end of the year, Ally said.

ResCap also has agreements with big investors in mortgage-backed securities to support the bankruptcy reorganization, Ally said.